Composition and Antibacterial Activity of <em>Heracleum Transcaucasicum</em> and <em>Heracleum Anisactis</em> Aerial Parts Essential Oil

Mohammadali Torbati

Hossein Nazemiyeh

Farzaneh Lotfipour

Solmaz Asnaashari

Mahboob Nemati

Fatemeh Fathiazad

^{Students’ Research Committee, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran.}

^{Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran.}

^{Pharmaceutical and Food Control, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran.}

^{Drug Applied Research Centre, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran.}

^{Corresponding author: Fatemeh Fathiazad, Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Tel: +98 411 3372253, Fax: +98 411 3344798,}ri.ca.demzbt@dazaihtaf

Received 2013 May 8; Revised 2013 Jun 3; Accepted 2013 Jun 9.

Abstract

Purpose: Two plant essential oils (EOs), including those from Heracleum transcaucasicum and Heracleum anisactiss (Umbeliferae) were studied to detect the chemical constituents and evaluated for their antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods: The EOs of H. transcaucasicum and H.anisactis (Apiacae) were obtained by hydrodistillation from aerial parts of the plants. The chemical analyses of the EOs were performed by GC/Mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Myristicin was found to be the principal constituent in both EOs. The susceptibility tests of EOs were performed by agar disc diffusion technique against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. Results: Eight components comprising 99.97% of the total essential oil of H. transcaucasicum and a total of three compounds accounting for 98.5% of the total oil composition of aerial parts of H. anisactis were identified, of which myristicin was the main compound in both EOs. The EOs of H. transcaucasicum and H. anisactis showed weak antibacterial property against Gram-positive strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis with no measurable effect on Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Conclusion: Our GC-MS study revealed myristicin to be the major constituent of H. transcaucasicum and H.anisactis aerial parts. In spite of all the information available on the antibacterial properties of plants essential oils, we were not able to find significant antibacterial activity for both EOs.

Keywords: Heracleum transcaucasicum, Heracleum anisactis, Umbelliferae, Essential oil composition, GC/MS Spectrometry, Myristcin

Abstract

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